Something to share

I have not written anything about this on here...but there IS something exciting to share. (Some of you close readers have been following this via Facebook.) I met a sweet gal via a Facebook page that was created by the adoption agency I was adopted through. This girl was born here in my province, but was taken to the USA and her adoption was finalized in NYC. (This was in like 1973 or 4?) She posted on that FB page, because she was desperate for help and info...after searching - with no answers - for her birthmother/family back here in the province she was born.

For some reason, I was drawn to her. I sent her a private message, told her about myself and offered to do some searching on my end. I also told her that I wouldn't give up until we found the answers she was looking for. I realized it could take forever...but when I get something in my mind and heart...I do not give up. I took it as a personal challenge.

Erin and I immediately had a connection and I just really liked this stubborn, big-hearted, New-York-accented, God-loving, compassionate, funny, intuitive, tough, no-nonsense girl from the start. A lot. She's an awesome mother, too...to four beautiful girls.

I spent HOURS (as did Erin and many others) looking for her birthmother. We called strangers...asking for info and a couple of times I asked women if they had placed a baby girl for adoption some years ago. Nothing promising came up. I would search in spurts and then take week-long (or month long!) breaks. It was like hitting one wall after another.

I remember Erin saying to me...last Fall, that she couldn't do it anymore. It was too draining, she thought she may never find her bfamily and that she needed to step back, before she lost it. I said...step back and let me continue. Well, for whatever reason...she didn't step back. In a flurry, pieces were flying that didn't fit into her puzzle, but offered a couple of new leads.

Out of the complete blue, one day, Erin received a phone call that would change everything. It's my belief that this phone call came because of our never-ending prayers for a tidbit of info that would lead us to her mother.

One afternoon, Erin called and told me that a Salvation Army agency, based out of Ontario, called to confirm with her that her bmom had stayed in a house for birthmothers. What she also shared with her...was her birthmother's middle name. We had been searching for her mother...by her first name and last name (which we assumed, now, would have been possibly changed to a married name). We had no other info, other than her bmom's age, hometown (which is a small one, but proved to be difficult anyway) and some small tidbits of info that we didn't know was true or not.

Getting Erin's bmom's middle name was the missing puzzle piece. That night, I shared the info with my mom's family - which is also from the area where Erin was born. Phone calls started flying between many friends and relatives in my family and by the next day, I received 5 phone numbers that belonged to one person that had the exact middle and last name of Erin's bmom, two numbers that ended up belonging to men, one number that was disconnected, one number that was incorrect...and then there was one number left.

I dialed...and it went to voicemail. A woman's voice announced that she was *name* and to leave a message. The womans name was the middle name and last name...that matched Erin's bmom's name that we recently received - this number had been listed by the first initial and last name. I left a voicemail...thinking it would be another dead end. I said where I was from and that I was doing some family tree stuff and asked if her full name was what Erin's bmom's full name was. (I didn't disclose that I was looking for a birthmother, etc.) I asked for her to return my call if so.

I didn't receive any calls back and thought no more of it.

Some days later, I received a call from that area, but since I was driving, I did not pick up. A voicemail was left, with a phone number and I was asked to call her back 'tomorrow'. Since it had just been left, I didn't pay attention to the message and called back immediately. The woman answered.

This phone call was indescribable. I still cannot put it into words.

I introduced myself and said that I was looking for someone by the name of...and I told her the full name. I asked if that was her full name. Her answer??? (I know you've probably guessed it!) Yes. Then, I went on to say...ok, I'm calling on behalf of my friend Erin and then shared that she was adopted, her DOB and some other pieces of info. The other end of the phone went silent.

It. felt. like. forever.

She confirmed that she was the woman that Erin had been searching for for years. She was Erin's birthmother.

All I could do was bite my lip to not burst into tears.

In short...Erin's mother was very open with information and asked for me, or Erin, to call her in a few days - she needed time to process this. She had ONLY told one person about Erin - one of her sisters who has since passed away.

Of course, Erin's story is much longer. But the coolest thing? Erin will be here in April and we'll be making the five-hour drive to meet her mother. You can bet that I'll be blogging about that!